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Story-maker apps put kids in the director’s chair

Jinny GudmundsenUSA TODAY

Published: Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 12:37 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 12:37 p.m.

Book apps are all the rage, because kids love a good story. Exciting new apps transfer the storytelling to them, to let their imaginations become the source of the stories being told. This list of story-making apps spans three different age categories. Each helps kids learn how to tell a story and makes the creating easy.

Elmo the Musical — Storyteller

Sesame Street, best for ages 3-6, $3.99, iPad, Android

Rating: 4 stars

By playing with Elmo, the furry red monster from Sesame Street, youngsters learn that stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. Expanding a new segment from the TV show, Elmo and his friend Velvet ask for the reader’s help in creating a fun musical story. In a format similar to Mad Libs, kids select things to add to the story. At the time of selection, they don’t know how the objects and/or characters added to the scene will impact the story. But that’s what makes this app fun, since most of the stories end up being silly.

Kids choose characters or objects to add to the story by touching and dragging items from a selection area at the top of the page. A nifty feature lets kids take a picture of themselves and then place their face inside of Elmo’s body as he strikes funny poses. This unique Elmo with the player’s face shows up as a character to add to the story. This way, kids can put themselves into the story.

When kids finish selecting things to add, Velvet reads the story to them incorporating their selections. The words highlight, and the added items can be tapped for a simple interaction. Kids can even choose to record their own voice narrating each of the three pages of the story.

This story-creating app has longevity since it offers endless combinations that each create a unique story. It you have an Elmo lover in your house, this is an exciting way to learn how to tell a story.

Toy Story: Story Theater

Disney, best for ages 5-12, $2.99, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad

Rating: 4 stars

The newest addition to Disney’s Story Theater series (which includes “Sofia the First: Story Theater” and “Disney Princess: Story Theater”), this app lets kids tell stories about the characters from the Toy Story movies. The storytelling takes the format of moving stickers (characters and other props) around on the screen, resizing them and providing the voiceover for the characters. The app records both the sticker movements and the child’s voice and then packages them together to create a short animated story video.

The app has an excellent feature called “Story Play” that eases kids into telling their own stories. With Story Play, kids contribute to a story that already has a framework. They pick one of three characters, choose a location, select an event (like seeing a hairy monster) and decide upon an action. With each of these decisions, the story stops and asks kids to contribute some movement and voice-over to include in the completed story.

After getting their storytelling legs under them in the Story Play mode, kids can graduate to “Free Play” where they have more control over the stories they want to tell. For older kids, parents can set the app to Level 2, which adds sections about describing a character and choosing a feeling.

Information for parents is nicely stored under a parental lock where parents need to follow written directions on how to open it. The app’s guide with helpful suggestions, settings, and ads about other Disney apps are hidden from kids — a nice feature that more apps should emulate.

“Toy Story: Story Theater” offers training wheels for kids new to storytelling. It is perfect for fans of this brand. Its only limitation is that kids can’t create their own characters and props.

Toonia Storymaker

3fs, best for ages 6-10, $5.99, iPad

Rating: 3 stars

“Toonia Storymaker” offers kids who know how to read a rich playset of characters and settings to use in making their own stories. After dragging characters and objects into a scene, kids can add speech bubbles (which can show icons or words), change characters’ positions and expressions, and choose different colors for the characters (including clothing and skin color).

A set of multiracial characters with back stories adds depth to this story creation set. One little girl loves chemistry, while another is really interested in car racing. One little boy is a jokester and is never far from his skateboard. Kids can set their stories in space, at home, around school or they can choose a theme that focuses on fairy tales, seasons, or ecology.

The intuitive interface has lots of icons and short animations showing the player how to do things. The artwork is sweet, making it most appropriate for younger elementary school children. Completed stories are placed on your own bookshelf and can be shared with others as a PDF file via email.

“Toonia” gives kids digital tools with which to create illustrated stories to share with others. Unlike the previous two apps, which both provide scaffolding to teach children how to tell stories, this app does not. It is about using a set of well-designed static stickers and talk bubbles to tell a story. Plus, the more stories kids create, the more content they unlock including new characters and new settings without having to make any in-app purchases.

Jinny Gudmundsen is the author of the new book: iPad Apps for Kids, part of the For Dummies series. Contact her at techcomments@usatoday.com. Follow her @JinnyGudmundsen.

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